Chapter Text
The Radio Demon was sitting at the hotel’s small bar, lazily swirling the cognac around in the glass tumbler he gripped between his clawed fingers. Allowing the alcohol to open up before taking a sip, he watched Husk chug unceremoniously from the bottle he had just poured the drink from. Loud gulps bubbling from his throat as he tipped his head further and further back to maintain the flow of alcohol. Unable to hide a twinge of disgust, “My dear associate… there are glasses right beside you, must you drink such a high brow hooch in such a manner?” Alastor asked, setting his glass down on the dark wood bar top.
“If I’m stuck at this hotel I’ll drink the booze how ever I damn well please. You’re the son of a bitch who ‘volunteered’ me for this stupid job anyway, ” Husk grumbled against the lip of the bottle between gulps. Flipping Alastor off for good measure before finally capping the bottle with a disdained sniff as he shook the glass to see there was only about a quarter of the cognac left. Ignoring that fact and setting it back amongst the other bottles of alcohol, he began to look through them for another drink. His long claw-like finger clinking softly against the glass.
“Very well, my friend, but I expect you to buy a fresh bottle before I request another drink, Lucifer knows I won’t take another drink from that bottle after you drooled all over the top of it,” Alastor said cooly, but the static that crackled against his words was more of a demand than a request. Husk only grunted while the Radio Demon took another sip from the tumbler. “Which considering the time of year it is, I might need soon.”
Husk turned back to face his employer with a quirking of a feathered brow. “Damn… is it that time of year for ya already? It starts tonight, doesn’t it? Guess I’ll have to deliver that all to the radio tower or something,” he grunted, turning back around to look through the bottles behind him again, seeing the quantity of each bottle he recalled the Radio Demon favoring over others, after all the years of having to work under the red bastard, he learned what drinks that he preferred. But, he was pulled away from the task with a wave of the hand from Alastor.
“That won’t be necessary, my feline friend. I will be staying at the hotel for the duration of my episode. There is still a lot of work to be done before we open to the public, and just because I’ll be locked away in my quarters doesn’t mean that I can’t do my due diligence,” Alastor assured him, finishing off his drink before standing up from the bar. “Speaking of which, I should get the necessary paperwork set up in my quarters, the less I have to leave my room, the easier everything will be.”
Husk couldn’t help but think that that was a bat shit crazy idea. Alastor staying the hotel during his rut was a dumb idea in itself, isolation was always a better idea. But, Husk knew there was a much more dangerous reason that the Radio Demon should not stay at the hotel for a while. “Ya think staying here is a good idea boss? I haven’t been around ya too much during these sorta things, but from what I’ve seen you get pretty hard to deal with. Plus… didn’t you say that Charlie was your-”
“My dear fellow! I believe going into such detail is highly inappropriate for such a public setting! I believe you should remember where we are before you continue.” Alastor warned, glancing around the lobby before he stepped closer. “Remember who you’re talking to, Husk. I’m a gentleman after all! Resolve comes naturally.”
Unconvinced, Husk only muttered something about it not being his problem before he leaned against the bar and popped open another bottle of booze. Leaving Alastor to turn on his heels and walk off towards the office he and Charlie shared. Humming a soft tune as feedback echoed quietly behind him as he walked quickly down the hall to a tall door at its end.
Opening the door with a snap of his fingers, he stepped inside to see Charlie sitting at her respective desk, scribbling away at a piece of paperwork. As Alastor entered, closing the office door behind him, she lifted her head and offered a wide smile. “Alastor! I was wondering when you were going to come by, I had some questions regarding budgets for the next several months. I already managed to narrow it down to three possibilities, but I wanted to get your opinion before I picked anything.” As she started to go through the papers, he walked over to stand in front of her desk.
Placing his hands on the edge of the mahogany surface- claws clicking against the wood- he watched her for a moment. The way she absent-mindedly tucked fallen strands of her golden blonde hair behind her ear, or the way she bit her lip in concentration, it reminded Alastor why he needed to stay locked in his room for a while. But it wasn’t like she’d want to help him in the end regardless.
“Of course my dear! Before we do that, however, there is something I must discuss with you,” He hummed, waiting for Charlie to lift her head from the paperwork before he continued. “I’ll be absent from any in-person meetings for the next week, I have some... matters to attend to that will keep me from leaving my quarters. If you still need me for anything, however, just call for one of my little shadow assistance. They’ll bring any paperwork straight to me to look over. It’ll be like I was never gone!” Alastor watched as her expression morphed from one of polite interest to one of genuine concern, her lip pouting and her brow furrowing in such a manner he couldn’t help but let his smile widen in indearment.
“A whole week? Is everything okay Alastor?” Charlie asked, leaning over to instinctively place a hand on his forearm as a sign of comfort, only to flinch at pull it away at the last second. He doesn’t like to be touched, remember? Charlie mentally scolded herself before setting down the papers she was holding. “It sounds like there might be something going on, is there anything I could help you with?” She asked, picking at the corner of her desk as she looked back up at him. “I’m sure the hotel business could wait a few days if it meant helping you out.”
Oh, there are so many ways you could help me, you just never will. Alastor thought with an inward sigh, but he only smiled wider with a shake of his head. “While I’m so honored to have me in your thoughts, my belle. I’m afraid that I don’t need any assistance, just a little patience while I go about my business. Now,” as a lavish ballpoint pen materialized in his hand with a puff of red magic, the Radio demon leaned forward to focus on the slips of paper between them. “Which of these needs my signature?”
__
They worked for a few hours getting all the pressing paperwork out of the way before calling it an even. Charlie excusing herself first to get ready for a dinner date with Vaggie. Alastor had tuned of the conversation the moment the moth demon was brought up, electing instead to simply hum acknowledgments until the blonde demon left their office for the evening.
Alastor never cared for the silver-haired demon much, she wasn’t as scared of him as he’d like her to be. Nor was she shy of pushing him away whenever he made a note to “invade” Charlie’s personal space during a conversation about the hotel or evening a casual back and forth. While Charlie never seemed to mind him being so close, Vaggie was always quick to stick her spear between them for some space. Where Charlie would really be the one to stumble back in surprise, leaving Alastor to freeze in surprise.
As the Radio Demon packed some paperwork under his arm, he couldn’t help but let the jealously bubble up in the back of his throat like bile at the thought of Charlie spending a romantic even with such a vile woman. If only she realized…
Leaving the rest of the office neat and tidy before he teleported himself back up to his room at the hotel, pausing just outside the door to peer down the hall at Charlie’s door. Sensitive ears picking up the two of them talking and laughing about god knows what. Growling softly to himself, he entered his room in a huff, static popping in his voice as he slammed the door shut with this magic. Setting the paperwork down on a little end table by the door before walking through to the main part of the suite. After making sure the door behind him was locked with a simple snap of the fingers, he sat down on the velvet sofa that took prominence over the rest of the room with a soft huff. Maybe Husk was right, maybe staying here this week was less than ideal.
But, he had already told Charlie he would still be around, so there was no going back now. Hopefully, she wouldn’t need him too much in the coming days, and he would be better off the less he had to think of her. Dealing with this time of year over the decades was hard enough when he wasn’t just down the hall from her room. It was going to be a difficult week to be sure.
In hell, the punishment sinners were subject to were not boiling cauldrons to melt off their skin, or merciless torture at the hands of Lucifers minions. Such a concept was cliche and overall too messy on such a wide scale. With all the people being sent to hell every year, and with angels coming down to cull numbers, to begin with, such one on one torture was impossible..
No, the punishments given out in hell were in the details of each sinner’s anatomy. The manners in which they must live are designed to chip away at their resolve cause anguish every day of their lives.
Animal demons usually had it off worse than the others, their tendencies becoming more animalistic in nature than human. Especially during certain times of the year when a cruel twist of fate raked its claws through even the most professional of demons. Melting any shreds of dignity into nothing more than a puddle of desperation.
That time in which the animal demons go through their ruts or heats. It happened during different times of the year for every demon. A week of an unquenchable thirst to breed or be bred. An itch that can only be resolved by the touch of a signal demon alone. It was different for every demon, each with a counterpart that completed their ruts. Akin to finding their true love, at least as close as one could get here in hell. But, in a cruel twist, it was always a demon that was impossible to attain. Whether it be a matter of class or something as simple as never meeting your other half. The system was designed to make you suffer your rut alone with no satisfaction.
Alastor was no exception to this rule. As a deer demon himself, ruts always seemed to hit him harder than usual. But, a week locked away in the radio tower in a near-constant cold shower always seemed to be enough.
However, things were different this year…
For one Alastor wasn’t going to be locked away in his tower this year, instead, he was left in a hotel with other demons… one of which was Charlie.
How he was going to survive his rut with his other half- the only one who could alleviate this stress- just down the hall from him… he couldn’t say.